IT didn't take Jo Tessem's teammates too long after they arrived in the visitors' dressing room at the Stadium of Light to remind the Norwegian of the horror he endured on Wearside 15 months ago.

Sunderland's matchday programme recalled the injury-time moment when, with the scores level at 2-2, Tessem went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and drilled his shot wide.

"I don't think about it a lot, it is just everyone else seems to remember the incident," said Tessem. "I have put it behind me. My teammates gave me some stick when they opened the programme to read all about it. Hopefully they will be quiet now!"

Tessem certainly had the last laugh, coming on as a substitute and then three minutes from time rising high above Sunderland defender Joachim Bjorklund to head home Anders Svensson's immaculate free-kick.

With perfect counterpoint, he scored in front of the same Metro FM Stand where he had suffered last season.

But, more importantly, the goal offered Southampton a point they more than deserved but after Jason McAteer's sweet 61st-minute strike, looked like slipping away from them.

"It would have been an injustice had we lost," said Tessem.

While boss Gordon Strachan reckoned three points would have been a more fitting reward from a game which, but for a rocky 15-minute period in the second half, Southampton dominated.

"If anything we should have won the game," said Strachan. "But with five minutes to go I was wondering what on earth I was going to say to my players who had given me a big performance.

"I was beginning to fear it was not our day. We had so many chances, but we could not put the ball in the net.

"But all credit to the players. They kept believing in themselves and it was one of the better performances since I came here. That is how I like them to play."

Southampton were sublime for the first hour. Once again, the hi-tempo passing and movement was evident, crisp and sharp, simply tearing Sunderland apart.

Their performance was made all the more remarkable since the pitch was slippery and spongey, making control and turning difficult. But Saints more than adapted to the conditions.

Anders Svensson was pulling the strings from midfield. We all know he has got the tricks, the little shimmies, the drop of the shoulder and no-look flicks, but the Swede also bared his teeth at times, with some robust tackles breaking up the play.

The service to the front two of Brett Ormerod and Kevin Davies, with Marian Pahars linking up wide on the right, was plentiful. The shame of it all was that those chances went unconverted.

Ormerod, who had such an outstanding game using his pace, aggression and swiftness that poor George McCartney was substituted at half-time, went agonisingly close after 23 minutes with a delicate chip after Chris Marsden had pounced on a McCartney mistake.

Davies then looped a shot onto the roof of the net four minutes later, Svensson flashed a header just wide and then McCartney deflected a 42nd minute Davies' effort inches over his own crossbar.

Marsden and Ormerod tormented the Black Cats' defence again in the second half, though in truth, goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen never had a serious save to make.

And then that's when McAteer struck. The 30-year-old Republic of Ireland international chested down a Gavin McCann knock down, nipped inside Paul Williams and Claus Lundekvam before crashing a left-foot shot past Paul Jones from 20 yards.

It was a cruel, numbing blow, and for a Sunderland side so desperate for points this was a smash-and-grab raid of immense proportions.

And so it took a former policeman to even out the scales of justice. Tessem was thrown into the fray with Jason Dodd with a quarter hour left. It was a last throw of the dice by Strachan.

Saints pressed hard. Pahars had an 82nd-minute volley deflected just wide, and then Michael Gray kicked a Paul Telfer header off the line from the corner.

Then with three minutes left, just as he had done at Arsenal six weeks earlier, Tessem won a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area - left side this time, instead of right side.

At Highbury, it was Svensson who delivered the pin-point free-kick which found Tessem's head for a late equaliser. Play that tape again. Svensson delivered, Tessem headed - an ex-policeman's lot is such a happy one!

"We are happy with the point," said Tessem. "It would have been an injustice had we lost, but that is football and it happens.

"Maybe we could have won it. We certainly came here trying to win the game because our form has been better than Sunderland's recently.

"I didn't feel I had a repay a debt here after the miss last season, but perhaps now people will stop going on about it."